Background
She grew up as a supporter of Flamengo and admired Adílio.
She grew up as a supporter of Flamengo and admired Adílio.
Her nickname is an homage to the celebrated male football player Pelé. Pelézinha began playing football as a youngster with the boys in her neighbourhood of Lins de Vasconcelos, north of Rio de Janeiro. In 1981 Pelézinha quit school and left América to join European Commission Radar on a professional basis.
After playing for Radar, representing Brazil, in the 1986 edition of the Mundialito tournament in Italy, Italian clubs reportedly offered a $35,000 transfer fee to sign star player Pelézinha.
She was also part of the Radar squad who went to the 1988 Fédération internationale de football association Women"s Invitation Tournament in Guangdong as Brazil and finished in third place. In the 1991 Fédération internationale de football association Women"s World Cup, Pelézinha started the second group game against the United States.
She was unable to make an impression against the American defence and was substituted early in the second half for 16–year–old Pretinha. Disastrous attempts to play the offside trap contributed to Brazil"s 5–0 defeat to the eventual champions.
Pelézinha was a reserve in the other two group games.
The Brazilian women"s national team did not play another match for over three years, until a sponsorship from Maizena corn starch allowed them to play in the 1995 South American Women"s Football Championship. Pelézinha was absent from the squad.